WASHINGTON -- Congress remains divided about how to respond to the influx of thousands of unaccompanied children from Central America across the Texas border.

Some Republicans, including Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, said Congress shouldn't act on any emergency spending requests until President Barack Obama takes steps to toughen immigration enforcement.

Senate Democrats are proposing a $2.7 billion package -- $1 billion less than suggested by Obama -- to care for the children, speed hearings on whether they qualify for asylum and create a new strategy to target smugglers who are leading the children across the border with claims that they will be able to stay in the United States. The smugglers charge the children's families large sums to bring the children to the border, and, according to the U.S. Justice Department, often subject them to horrible treatment, including sexual assaults.

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., told Politico she will not support the Democratic bill because of lack of coordinating language for agencies receiving funding and "little faith" in the State Department's ability to use the money to combat violence in immigrants' home countries. "Those are the two reasons that I am a no. And it's unlikely those will be fixed," Landrieu said.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has proposed legislation that requires "mandatory detention of unaccompanied minors upon apprehension and places them on the next available flight to their home countries within 72 hours, said Thursday that Louisiana facilities already have been contacted by the Obama administration about housing Central American children. He mentioned Fort Polk and Barksdale military facilities and the Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport.

"Louisiana isn't even a border state, but we're already experiencing the impact of this border crisis," Vitter said. "Our military bases and community fairgrounds shouldn't be bullied into housing illegal immigrants. It's incredibly troubling that this has become a national crisis, but it certainly shouldn't become a Louisiana crisis, too."

House Republican leaders have proposed $1 billion less than Senate Democrats, and linking funding to a change in the 2008 anti-trafficking law that makes it harder to deport children arriving in the United States from nations not contiguous to the U.S. border.

Rep. Luis Gutierrez, D-Ill., said House Republicans who continue to refuse to take up a comprehensive reform bill passed last year by the Senate have a responsibility now to deal with a growing humanitarian crisis. He said the solution includes working with the Central American nations to reduce the influx of young children. But it should not mean, Gutierrez said, sending all the children who have arrived in the United States back to their home nations, without due process.

"It is a combination of violence, lack of legitimate law-enforcement, poverty, and hopelessness that are driving people out of Central America, fueled by smugglers and narco-traffickers who are pumping false information to stimulate demand for their black market services," Gutierrez said. "It is not clear to me what the death toll is of this movement of children across so many thousands of miles."

On Thursday, Fleming, the Minden Republican, said Congress should put off legislation until President Obama takes three specific actions: Ends his deferred action against deporting children who have been in the United States continuously since 2007, use the "exceptional circumstances" clause of the 2008 anti-trafficking law to return children arriving from Central America immediately and deploys the National Guard to secure the border.

"It would be a mistake for this Congress to act until the President shows demonstrable leadership and takes responsibility for his past actions and decisions," Fleming said in a letter to House Republican leaders. "If the House acts, it should be to bring up a resolution that directs the President as to what actions he should take before the House passes any further legislation."

Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., said the United States must act to deal with an immigration system that has been overwhelmed with the influx of children. She is proposing $1 billion less than the president because she says that $1 billion won't be needed during the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

"I believe this bill provides the most effective path forward to meet our nation's obligations to protect the safety and health of the children seeking refuge, speed determination of their asylum status and create a strategy to go after the smugglers, crime and violence that are driving children and families from their home countries," Mikulski said.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said that Congress needs to act before it begins a month-long recess at the end of next week.

"We've heard a lot of concerns expressed by Republicans in Congress," Schultz said. "We hope that those concerns are backed up by action, because we need to surge resources to the border in order to address the problem."